Well, for about a month now I've decided to take it much more seriously in regards to giving up satisfying my "carnal passions" through pornography and excessive masturbation. I've gone to Confession for it twice within the past month and have really cut down--as difficult as it is. I just ask that all of you will pray that I can keep it up--because every day opposed to getting easier, it feels like it only gets harder, and oftentimes I will find myself having mood swings and despairing--feeling depressed and miserable, contemplating death, horrified by the fact that I will have to keep this up for the remainder of my life etc. I'm finally bearing my Cross and I hate it. Please pray for me that I can get through all of this and resist the temptation, and especially get through the "withdrawal" symptoms that are driving me mad.

If you're having mood swings due to racing thoughts pertaining to your carnal desires, you can always seek help.

I don't know how I could do that without embarassing myself or crossing the child-parent line. "Hey mom, dad, I kinda need some help and/or medical attention because I'm having severe mood swings due to giving up masturbation and carnal desires due to my new religion that you never really approved of." It just seems very odd to me.

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

If you're having mood swings due to racing thoughts pertaining to your carnal desires, you can always seek help.

I don't know how I could do that without embarassing myself or crossing the child-parent line. "Hey mom, dad, I kinda need some help and/or medical attention because I'm having severe mood swings due to giving up masturbation and carnal desires due to my new religion that you never really approved of." It just seems very odd to me.

I don't know if high schools have school counselors that you can talk to? Sometimes parents accept the generalized answer that touches on something discussed rather than needing all of the details.

Logged

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 2:6)

i would worry that the school counsellor would recommend 'relieving the desires' by doing 'what comes naturally'.most secular people seem to blindly follow freud's ideas on sexuality. freud was probably sexually abused as a child, so i can't imagine he had a healthy approach to the subject.but all Christian churches are supposed not to allow porn, so maybe you might get more good advice from your parents than you think. check what their views are first before coming out with your problem.may God guide you.

"This is the cross - to become dead to the whole world, to suffer sorrows, temptations and other passions of Christ; in bearing this cross with complete patience, we imitate Christ's passion and thus glorify our God the Father as His sons in grace and co-heirs of Christ." --St. Symeon the New Theologian

"Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!" (Priestmonk Christodoulos Aggeloglou, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain Mount Athos, Greece, 1998,pp. 29-30, 48)

I can't find the saying at the moment (perhaps it was Abba Macarius?) so I will have to extemporize. One of the Fathers likened the passions to a garment: when it is shut up in a drawer and not exposed to light and air, mold will set in and it will rot away. Or like a scorpion, when full of vitality and free to roam wherever it will, is harmful but when sealed in a jar and deprived of food will weaken and die. In like manner the passions, when shut up in the heart and not given the aid of our will and activity, will in time, weaken and be rendered manageable.

So proceed with this remembrance: when you are finally able to cast this habit aside, abstinence will become easier. As long as you indulge it, you will give it strength and have to struggle.

Well, for about a month now I've decided to take it much more seriously in regards to giving up satisfying my "carnal passions" through pornography and excessive masturbation. I've gone to Confession for it twice within the past month and have really cut down--as difficult as it is. I just ask that all of you will pray that I can keep it up--because every day opposed to getting easier, it feels like it only gets harder, and oftentimes I will find myself having mood swings and despairing--feeling depressed and miserable, contemplating death, horrified by the fact that I will have to keep this up for the remainder of my life etc. I'm finally bearing my Cross and I hate it. Please pray for me that I can get through all of this and resist the temptation, and especially get through the "withdrawal" symptoms that are driving me mad.

Lord, please be with James in his difficult times, and give him the strength to bear the cross.

James, beat this brother! You can do it! Radical amputation brother - pluck out porn. Many people who are addicted to porn state that the withdraws are tougher than getting off Heroine. (not kidding). This is a growing problem, you are not alone. I know you've complained of this issue many times. Be strong. Be very strong.

Remember the story about the Samaritan woman at the well. She continually went back and back, and her thirst was never quenched. This was symbolic of her husbands, and that she kept getting new ones. Over and over she went to other men, and her sin was never satisfied. Christ offers us the "living water". Drink from him, and you'll never get thirsty again.